What i think about the Spitfire (its all good by the way)

01-06-2012, 08:12 AM

So...I had a 5'10 Futura for a while and thought it was the best thing going but i for some reason i was missing out when it was smaller or slower. Over the past 4 months i tried an El Fuego then a Dominator then a Spitfire, then bang...all i can say is after six weeks of using it, the Spitfire is the most versatile board I've ever ridden and i'm glad i kept going to find the right FW model for my needs.

I didn't mess with the 4 fin set up and went straight for FG5's as a thruster. It took a while too get used to (being so short at 5'6) and i'm still tweaking my style with it yet, but with various surfs from waist to head high i decided this was going to be my 'one trick pony' board and have sold everything else. It's fast, turns well and catches nearly everything. I'm currently in a lot of rubber due to the cold UK at the mo so can't wait to get into a thinner suit and get this thing going a bit more.

I rarely get to surf overhead waves due to my location so i don't have the need for a step-up, but this is a great model and hasn't let me down yet, will be interesting to see what it goes like in some bigger Atlantic grunt.

If anyone has found the perfect fin for this board yet let me know but i imagine a PC5, FG5 or K2.1 is about it.

Due to the tail profile and stepdown rail from the front fin boxes to the end, the Spitfire draws tighter arcs than the Dominator. From the front fins to the nose, both boards are basically identical. Lets say that the Spitfire is a higher performance Dominator.
Due to the tail profile the Dominator will handle smaller conditions than the Spitfire in my opinion due to tis fuller tail

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iggy, the Domo was okay but felt very flat, caught lots of waves but just didn't wouldn't dig in. the el fuego i tried for10 mins and i new that wasn't the right board for me, way too flat. The spit i was hasent't excited about but tried it and it just worked great what can i say! best board ever!

I am toying with the idea of selling my Dominator and getting a spitfire, or keep both and have the Dominator for a 1-3, Spitfire (2" shorter) 2-5 and the Hellfire for everything else. But then again I would love a sweet potato, so many choices.

I think, only from reading the reviews on Spitfires and Hellfires and my own experience with the Dominator that there would be too much overlap between the Dominator and the Hellfire making the Spitfire redundant (or as Jake from 2.5 Men would say "redumbnant" :-).

One of my big questions is if the Spitfire slides out as much as my Dom when I get on the rail? It might be that my foot is not placed properly or that my weight is too far forward not sure. If anyone has any experience with this sort of thing feel free to enlighten me.

The Dom and the Spit will overlap each other . They are basically the same board from the front fins to the nose. The beauty of the Spit is from the front fins to the end. The step-down rail and the diamond tail makes the board to be more pivotal and draw tighter arcs. By shaving doing the step-down rail what you are achieving is to have the same sort of surface area to plane but with less volume. This means that the spit's tail will sink better into the face of the wave and the diamond tail will allow you to pivot more than the Dom

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hworks50 - to me the spitfire surfs like a regular short board, I've not had any issues with it feeing slippy or anything (although i do pull off a tail first drop now and again) also depending on what the waves are like i surf off the tail and sometimes further forward, what ever keeps it going.

I'm 40, 5'9 and ride the 5'6 - like i said in an earlier in this post i'm still getting use to the size but this is my only board now so all my concentration is on this model. If i had a choice i would get a 5'7 at the same dims or a 5'8 less a 1/4" but that's messing with the design the FW guys have refined and at present i'm happy with what i got and for where i surf this board is spot on.

IMO, whether off the same template or not the Dominator and Spitfire feel worlds apart to me...

A couple other things, you want to keep your foot AND trac pad way back, you want to ensure you have appropriate fins and you want to make sure you experiment with both quads and thrusters in the conditions where you seem to slide out.

I know I max out a bit more easily when riding a quad set. When I toss in a thruster, the board evens out a bit.

Cheers

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And if you're running FCS fusion boxes, on bigger days I'd slot the rear fin right back and on smaller days I'd move it forward to close up the cluster.
I like a slightly larger, more raked fin with like the K3 on bigger days, and more upright loose fins on smaller days, like the K2.1 and SF4.

I really like the quad set up in chest-shoulder high racey barreling waves. I find the instant speed on the take off really helps, and it holds in perfectly when taking the high line for max speed. I like the K2.1 quad set in those conditions. I'd like to try that set with the knubster too, it'd be interesting to feel the difference.